Lightning in My Veins

I'd been walking through junior year like a total zombie, brain fried from three hours of sleep and the constant pressure to be... everywhere. Everyone. My dad called it 'the grind,' but honestly? It felt more like I was stuck on permanent autopilot, just going through the motions.

"You coming to the courts?" Maya texted, three glowing bubbles on my lock screen.

Padel. The sport I'd pretended to know for two months just to sit near Leo during lunch. Because that's what you do when you're sixteen and clueless—you manufacture proximity.

"Can't. Studying." Lies. I was staring at my ceiling.

Outside, lightning cracked the sky in half, purple veins spiderwebbing across the clouds. Perfect weather to hide inside, overthink every interaction I'd had with Leo this week (they all sucked), and scroll TikTok until my eyes burned.

But then my phone buzzed again. "Leo's there. Just saying."

And suddenly I was running. Literally running—sneakers slapping pavement, lungs burning in the good way, rain plastering my hair to my forehead. The old me would've overthought it, made excuses, stayed safe in my zombie state.

The courts were covered but the sides were open, wind howling through. Maya, Leo, and a couple others were hitting this weird foam ball around, laughing as Leo exaggeratedly dove for a shot and wiped out dramatically.

"Finally!" Maya grinned, tossing me a racquet. "You're on my team. We're losing to Leo's theatrical ass."

I stepped onto the court, heart hammering. Not from running but from... being seen. From doing something spontaneous and uncalculated.

Leo looked over, rain dripping from his curls. "Hey. You play?"

"I mean," I shrugged, "I'm terrible but I'm here."

His smile was lightning—bright, unexpected, striking something dead inside me back to life. "Good enough."

We played until our fingers pruned, until the storm passed and real lightning gave way to the metaphorical kind firing through my veins. I sucked at padel. I missed every other shot. But for the first time in months, I wasn't a zombie going through the motions. I was just... there. Awkward and terrible and fully, terrifyingly alive.